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Topic: GAA books (Read 30697 times)

There may be an existing thread on this but I'm just wondering what decent books people have read recently.I'm halfway through 'The Club' by Christy O'Connor and I have to say after hearing so much about it, it is a massive disappointment.I read 'Out of our skins' the week before I started O'Connors book and it is in a different league altogether.And I'm not saying that because it was about the Meath team I loved, I just thought it was a phenomenally well written book and Hayes had a lot of interesting stuff to say.

Actually that just reminded me.Is Keith Duggans book on Mayo football any good?

House of Pain is a really good read too. Very different approach to analysing the history of a county. It altered my view of Mayo football. Some great, if somewhat tragic stories in there, stuff that must people outside of Mayo wouldn't be aware of. I'd thoroughly recommend it. Mind you, Duggan seldom disappoints.

I just found with O'Connors book, I didn't care if they won or lost these games that were supposed to be hugely important. The whole thing felt a bit hollow and also a lot of the things that were supposedly said just didn't sound right to me. I've been in plenty of dressing rooms and I know how lads talk to each other.Maybe he just tidied up the language but for all the talk about passion etc. the whole thing just leaves me cold.The fact that, aside from the Clare players, I know nothing about these lads might be a factor.

I just found with O'Connors book, I didn't care if they won or lost these games that were supposed to be hugely important. The whole thing felt a bit hollow and also a lot of the things that were supposedly said just didn't sound right to me. I've been in plenty of dressing rooms and I know how lads talk to each other.Maybe he just tidied up the language but for all the talk about passion etc. the whole thing just leaves me cold.The fact that, aside from the Clare players, I know nothing about these lads might be a factor.

I liked it mainly because of it's originality rather than the content. I remember about half way through I lost all interest for a few chapters and then it picked up again towards the end. Coming from a very small club I did find it interesting to see alot of the same themes and crisis occuring in such a big club which surprised me a bit. The apparent disconnect between the younger and older generation of players was also an interesting theme which I think alot of GAA club teams suffer from. Though as you said not knowing the majority of the central charachters does not help at times. Having said all that I would recommend it as a good read once the reader is does not buy into all the hyperbole that went with the books publication

I expected a lot from O'Connors book but I felt it was a let down. Full of people using clichés to psyche each other up before games that have no impact whatsoever on players performance. He was trying to paint a picture of Doora-Barefields season being make or break, life changing for the people involved but the way it came across was the players didn't really care and he was only fooling himself believing that he was on the cusp of the something amazing.

Me interest in the book waned when he described being out in Coppers, sober, when the guy Conny came over and he was thinking about ignoring him because Conny was drunk. At that moment I got the impression that he was one of the dry ones who stand in the corner watching and look down on people because they have had a few drinks and he is above it all, rather than not go to a nighclub where he was likely to find himself in such a situation.

I expected a lot from O'Connors book but I felt it was a let down. Full of people using clichés to psyche each other up before games that have no impact whatsoever on players performance. He was trying to paint a picture of Doora-Barefields season being make or break, life changing for the people involved but the way it came across was the players didn't really care and he was only fooling himself believing that he was on the cusp of the something amazing.

Me interest in the book waned when he described being out in Coppers, sober, when the guy Conny came over and he was thinking about ignoring him because Conny was drunk. At that moment I got the impression that he was one of the dry ones who stand in the corner watching and look down on people because they have had a few drinks and he is above it all, rather than not go to a nighclub where he was likely to find himself in such a situation.

Just my opinion

Yeah that really annoyed me too.It was real "Lets do it for x, y and z" stuff before every game.Then half of them wouldn't show up for training the next Tuesday.